Pomponia brevialata Lee & Pham

Pham, Hong-Thai, Lee, Young June & Constant, Jerome, 2015, Cicada genus Pomponia Stål, 1866 (Hemiptera: Cicadidae) from Vietnam and Cambodia, with a new species, a new record, and a key to the species, Zootaxa 3925 (4), pp. 562-572 : 567-568

Pomponia brevialata Lee & Pham , sp. nov.

( Fig. 4 )

Holotype. ♂, “Coll. I.R.Sc.N.B. // VIETNAM: Cuc Phuong // Day coll.NG/IG.31.668 // 11→ 18-VIII-2010 // Leg J.Constant & P.Limbourg” (printed yellow label) ( IRSNB).

Paratypes. 6♂♂, 1♀, same data as holotype ( IRSNB); 2♂♂, same data as holotype ( VNMN).

Measurements (n = 9♂♂, 1♀). Median length of body: ♂ 37.7 (36.3–38.9), ♀ 32.2. Median length of head and thorax together: ♂ 16.4 (15.8–17.2), ♀ 17.0. Median length of abdomen: ♂ 21.3 (20.5–22.3), ♀ 15.2. Width of head including eyes: ♂ 9.7 (9.5–10.0), ♀ 10.2. Width of mesonotum: ♂ 10.1 (9.8–10.5), ♀ 10.8. Width of posterior margin of abdominal tergite 3: ♂ 11.2 (10.9–11.4), ♀ 11.5. Length of fore wing: ♂ 43.0 (41.4–44.1), ♀ 44.1. Width of fore wing: ♂ 14.5 (14.0–15.3), ♀ 15.1. Wing span: ♂ 93.4 (87.0–97.1), ♀ 98.1.

Etymology. The specific name is the Latin feminine adjective meaning “short-winged”, which is referenced to the comparatively short fore wings of this species.

Description of male. Head ochraceous to brown with the following black to fuscous marks: median spot enclosing ocelli, with its anterior part obconical or inverted triangle enclosing median ocellus in lower angle, reaching frontoclypeal suture and with lateral angles narrowly extending laterad along anterior margin; 2 to 4 pairs of small spots between the median spot and eyes. Antennae ochraceous but pedicel fuscous. Ventral part of head ochraceous to brown. Postclypeus swollen anterad; brown anteriorly, ochraceous in middle, fuscous to black posteriorly, with no marks along transverse grooves or on other parts. Anteclypeus without distinct marks. Rostrum reddish ochraceous with black apical part; reaching sternite II. Gena with broad black fascia from base of antenna to eye, black spot below eye, and narrowly longitudinal black spot at about middle of gena. Lorum ochraceous in anterior one-third and dark brown in posterior two-thirds.

Pronotum ochraceous. Inner area of pronotum without distinct marks but with brown irregular patches and transverse dark brown fascia along anterior margin of pronotum. Pronotal collar with the following marks: narrowly transverse fuscous fascia along posterior margin; large posterolateral brown spot, sometimes indistinct; median inverted triangular, fuscous spot; dark brown spot between the posterolateral spot and the median spot. Pronotal collar slightly developed anterolaterally and obtusely dentate.

Mesonotum fuscous with a pair of delicate greenish ochraceous fasciae along parapsidal sutures, a pair of longitudinal greenish ochraceous patches along lateral margins of mesonotum, and nubiform patch inbetween. Cruciform elevation greenish ochraceous. Ventral part of thorax greenish ochraceous.

Wings hyaline and slightly tinged with pale brown. Fore wing RA2 (radius anterior 2) vein with its basal portion <0.33x as long as its longitudinal portion. Fore wing apical cell 6 <2x as long as apical cell 5 in median length. Fore wing with smudged infuscation on radial, radio-medial, and medial crossveins and rather indistinct infuscation on mediocubital crossvein. Infuscation indistinct on each hind margin of RA2, radius posterior, median 1–4, and cubitus anterior 1 vein. Apical cells 1–7 mostly covered by faint infuscation. Hind wing without infuscation.

Operculum brown; obliquely semicircular but medial posterior margin nearly straight, broader than long, extending slightly beyond posterior margin of sternite II. Opercula nearly touching each other.

Abdomen longer than head and thorax together (about 1.30x as long as head and thorax together) and nearly funnel-shaped; castaneous, with each caudal margin of tergites 2–8 narrowly black. Timbal cover dark brown; arch-shaped, with lateral margin longer than medial margin and lateral margin nearly straight. Abdominal sternites brown.

Genitalia: Distal shoulder acutely produced. Uncus trapezoid with narrow, short median incision; dark brown to fuscous. Clasper protruding from below uncus and with two acute spines of subequal length, which are reminiscent of tongs of crayfish; dark brown to fuscous. Basal lobe of pygofer paramedian, large ( Figs 4 C, 4D).

Description of Female. Operculum brown; semicircular, extending slightly beyond posterior margin of sternite II. Abdominal tergites dark castaneous, with each caudal margin of tergites 2–8 narrowly black. Abdominal sternites castaneous, but fuscous on sternite VII. Ovipositor sheath not extending beyond abdominal segment 9. Dorsal beak slightly longer than protruding part of ovipositor sheath.

Remarks. This species is distinguished from other species of the Pomponia linearis species complex by the roundly smudged infuscation on radial, radio-medial, and medial crossveins of the fore wing, the funnel-shaped male abdomen, and the spines of clasper reminiscent of the tongs of crayfish.

This species resembles Pomponia cinctimanus (Walker, 1850) and Pomponia ramifera (Walker, 1850) , both from Sylhet, Bangladesh, in having comparatively short and funnel-shaped male abdomen. However, this species is distinguished from P. cinctimanus and P. ramifera by distinctly narrower and longer spines of the clasper as well as the roundly smudged infuscation on radial, radio-medial, and medial crossveins of the fore wing.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Pomponia brevialata Lee & Pham, sp. nov., holotype, male, Vietnam: A, dorsal habitus. B, ventral habitus. C, lateroventral view of pygofer. D, ventral view of pygofer. E, lateral view of pygofer.